By Jere Hough Meteorologist / Feature Reporter
Published: Mon, February 19, 2007 - 6:02 am
Last Updated: Wed, August 29, 2007 - 3:42 pm
Last Updated: Wed, August 29, 2007 - 3:42 pm
Jere Hough
A Mardi Gras Parade...and a rowdy group throws beads and moon pies directly at the horses of the mounted patrol. Someone even has smoke bombs! What happens next-
Well, next is when the trainers evaluate the horses and riders. Did everyone stay in control-
Mobile Mounted Police Sergeant Eddie Carr explains, "A horse's first initial instinct is to turn and run from something, if it scares them. Well, here they can't do that. And the officer has to be the one to stop them from doing that. They have to work as a team."
Horses are big, powerful animals...weighing half a ton or more. You don't want them to get spooked as this parade horse did. The rider and horse are not law enforcement.
Mounted Patrol Officers and their horses are "nusiance trained" at this annual Mardi Gras School for law officers and their horses...here from as far away as Minneapolis and Boston.
Carr says, "When they come in their first couple of days they're sent through some paces so we can watch the horses reactions and then the riders reactions."
Over the next few days the horses and riders will be exposed to gunfire-like pops, loud boom boxes, even stepping over barricades.
"If the horse becomes where he'll trust you, then he'll do just about anything for you," says Carr.
Eventually, most students get first hand experience at Mardi Gras...but not all.
"Some riders never make it downtown because I can't take the responsibility. They understand if their horse is not capable of going into a crowd, we don't want him down there," says Carr.
He says that a mounted patrol can be the perfect answer for some situations. "Where a crowd has to be moved, you've got no better tool that for that horse and rider to step up in there...if you have five or six horses walking toward a crowd, that crowd will back up."
{JERE HOUGH} "We all know that Mardi Gras is about having a good time. But now we know it also takes a lot of very serious training to make sure we do have that fun. On County Road 5 with the Mobile Police Department, I'm Jere Hough, News 5."
(TAG) THIS IS THE FOURTEENTH YEAR FOR THE TRAINING SCHOOL.
Enlarge Video 
Download Video
Video RSS
News Map
Email to a Friend 
Printer Friendly 
Recently Commented On